Africans and persons of African descent must assume the primary responsibility and leadership in historical research....if we are to continue to leave practically all important historical research and writing concerning the black race to the white man, then we must be prepared to accept, uncomplainingly, the white man's point of view.
Interpretation
It emphasizes the importance of self-led historical research by African people to ensure their narratives are not dictated by outsiders.
This quote by Chancellor Williams points out the necessity for individuals of African descent to take charge of their own historical narratives. He suggests that if they allow others, particularly white historians, to dominate this field of research, they risk having their histories shaped solely by the perspectives and biases of those who do not share their experiences. Therefore, it is a call for empowerment and ownership over one's own history.
In practice
In an academic setting when discussing the importance of diverse perspectives in historical research.
People flock in, nevertheless, in search of answers to those questions only librarians are considered to be able to answer, such as "Is this the laundry?" "How do you spell surreptitious?" and, on a regular basis, "Do you have a book I remember reading once? It had a red cover and it turned out they were twins.
Reading is one of the true pleasures of life. In our age of mass culture, when so much that we encounter is abridged,adapted, adulterated, shredded, and boiled down, it is mind-easing and mind-inspiring to sit down privately with a congenial book.
We mistake being able to get lots of information from everywhere very quickly with actually getting knowledge.
To ask the proper question is half of knowing.
The main object of teaching is not to give explanations, but to knock at the doors of the mind.
So much does the moral health depend upon the moral atmosphere that is breathed, and so great is the influence daily exercised by parents over their children by living a life before their eyes, that perhaps the best system of parental instruction might be summed up in these two words: 'Improve thyself.'
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